bkhadijah

I waited right around 13 weeks. My experience was recent.

My path was getting a bachelors degree in Sociology. Then I decided to become a nurse. My husband was military at the time, so my goal was to get in and out of school before he got orders again. I chose LPN school because it was fast and the price (I went to a technical college and paid around $4,000). Four years later, I'm an RN. I did an accelerated BSN program that was 14 months. My program was 30,000. If there was an ABSN in my area around the time I went for LPN, I would have chosen this route. Still, I don't regret my path. What I liked about my experience? I really really enjoyed the learning experience of being an LPN. It was good for me. I guess it's just made me feel less thrown to the wolves or "new" in certain situations. I'm a new RN, but not a new nurse. Financially, it was good. I made around 55,000/yr as an LPN working LTC. I think that was an excellent return on a program that cost $4,000. What I didn't like? Opportunities are VERY limited. Extremely limited, in comparison to RN. I was fed up of being in the nursing home. So if it's going to take you years to bridge (life happens, things come up).. that's something to think about. In my area, unless you have a BSN there is no chance of you getting into the hospital. I was stuck in long term care and home health. Maybe your area is different. But in general, I sometimes wondered if I would be in a different place in my career had I gone the RN route first. I absolutely wouldn't pay 12,000 for LPN school, unless your earning potential is decent. I'll also say, I wasn't able to work much when I went back for my BSN. Its just going to come down to your school schedule and these programs are really competitive, so maybe you won't get into the one with the ideal schedule. I'd hate for you to go in thinking you can work as an LPN while bridging to BSN. Maybe. Maybe not. My school had weekend clinicals and that cut into a lot of per diem shifts I could pick up. If it were me, I would find a cheaper ABSN program and suck it up for a year and get it done. I understand student loans. I have a lot. I just think your earning potential as an RN is a lot more. So maybe your first two years as an RN you work some OT and things will balance out. Live well below your means.

Im critical, but silently. Would never say anything to a nurse. I think some nurses are very "brave" with their license is what I'll say. I think nurses just get comfortable (myself included at times) and it often shows. We get numb to it until we're the patient. I can remember being post op and having no assessment done or education given. Im sure the nurse charted bowel sounds, lung sounds... but never actually listened. I lived. It was fine. But that's not good care. I just think in a law suit happy society, I dont want anybody to have anything on me. So Im very critical of myself. Have I done everything I could? Could this be seen as neglect? I try to treat every patient like they are taking detailed notes. In court there is no such thing as "well thats not how it is in the real world". But I do understand what everyone is saying.